Victory on Prepaid Cards

Woodstock Institute celebrated victory in the successful defense of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) rule on prepaid cards against a repeal effort by Georgia Senator David Perdue. Sen. Perdue had attempted to do away with CFPB’s finalized prepaid rule through the Congressional Review Act, a law which enables Congress to roll back federal regulations.

Woodstock supported and commented on the rule throughout CFPB’s drafting process and sent a letter to all Illinois Senators and Congresspeople supporting the rule during its Congressional Review Act challenge in April.

Twelve million American households use prepaid cards. The rule protects these prepaid cardholders, many of whom are un- or under-banked, against deceptive practices and fees on the part of industry. The CFPB’s prepaid rule is supported by many industry trade groups, including some of the largest providers of prepaid cards nationally. It was finalized in October of last year, and it will go into effect in April 2018.

“Today's victory demonstrates that common sense pro-consumer reform can still prevail in the era of 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'. This rule will extend to prepaid card users, who are often lower-income, consumer protections like fraud protection already enjoyed by debit card users,” said Brent Adams, Senior Vice President of Policy at Woodstock Institute.